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House prices escape Vermonters' grasp
by Dan McLean
Free Press Staff Writer

Further evidence that the state's housing market is escaping the grasp of the average Vermonter emerged on Wednesday.

The fifth annual "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Housing and Wages in Vermont" (368kb; PDF) reported that the median purchase price for a home in Vermont rose to $182,000 in 2005 and that 73 percent of Vermont households don't earn the $65,000 a year needed to make the monthly payment on such a house.

Vermont's median household income — $45,700 — allows for the purchase of a $124,000 home, according to the report published by the Vermont Housing Council and the Vermont Housing Awareness Campaign, two housing advocacy groups. The median price of a home rose 10 percent from 2004, and 87 percent from 1996, according to the report.

"Vermont's economy, while growing, is still creating a large number of jobs at the lower end of the pay scale," the report said.

To calculate affordability, the report assumes payments for mortgage, property tax and insurance on a house bought with a 5 percent down payment and a 30-year mortgage at the average interest rate for 2005 total no more than 30 percent of household income.

Median prices for condominiums and mobile homes also continued to rise, the report said. Primary-residence condos jumped 14 percent to $176,500 last year. The median sale price of mobile homes with land increased 9 percent to $73,750.

"This report again confirms my view of our housing crisis. Unless we address this problem now, the dream of owning a home in our state for the average Vermonter could slip away within a generation," Gov. James Douglas said. "Making housing universally accessible and affordable is critical to our economic security and our quality of life."